Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Tisch: Virtual temples

The Temple is part of Jewish collective memory; alas, it is a distant memory. For many of us, it is challenging to connect to the hazy narrative of the Temple. To be sure, we continue to learn its laws, mourn its destruction and regularly pray for it to be rebuilt, but it is not part of daily reality. Following rabbinic tradition, hassidic masters sought to recreate the Temple experience in a variety of forms. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel of Opatow (the Ohev Yisrael, 1748- 1825) was keenly aware of his previous incarnations, one of which was as kohen gadol (high priest) in the Temple. Part of the Yom Kippur service recounts the kohen gadol’s service in the Temple on this holiest of days. When the Ohev Yisrael was leading this service on Yom Kippur, he was heard saying: “And thus I used to say” – instead of the standard text, “And thus he used to say” – because he still remembered the time he served as high priest. Thus, for the Ohev Yisrael, the Temple was not merely collective memory; it was a personal memory, and he was prepared to publicly share that vignette. In another case, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhel (the Yismah Moshe, 1759-1841) finished the silent amida prayer and recalled the rabbinic tradition that the Temple in heaven was not destroyed and that sacrifices are being offered there even today. He thought to himself that he should pray to see that sight, and God granted his request. The Yismah Moshe then saw with his own eyes Elijah the Prophet dressed in the priestly garments, standing there and offering up the daily sacrifice. For the Yismah Moshe as well, it was not a distant memory, but the real heavenly Temple – an image of the earthly Temple, accessible only by mystical experience. This matter also became public knowledge. Thus, for instance, Rabbi Nahman of Breslov (1772-1810) declared that “the money given for the benefit of the tzadik [righteous person] is considered as if the giver served in the Temple service.” Or in a mystical vein: “The ‘clear-sighted’ are able to perceive the halafim [slaughter knives] of the shohtim [ritual slaughterers] as vessels of the Temple.

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The Tisch: Virtual temples

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel of Opatow (the Ohev Yisrael, 1748- 1825) was keenly aware of his previous incarnations, one of which was as kohen gadol (high priest) in the Temple. Part of the Yom Kippur service recounts the kohen gadol's service in the

B'nai Jeshurun and the Heschel School flip roles in $20M UWS trade

Congregation B'nai Jeshurun purchased the building at 270 West 89th Street from the Abraham Joshua Heschel School for $20 million, according to documents that hit public records today. The trade symbolizes growth for two Jewish institutions on the

A Steinberg sale? Pinch me, I must be dreaming!

In this new canon, Brostoff also includes, “books like Abraham Joshua Heschel's The Sabbath and Chaim Potok's The Chosen.” Interested readers, or those hoping to relive Steinberg's story, can now acquire the digital edition of As a Driven Leaf for just

Words Of Wonder: How Jewish Poems Become Songs Of Praise

On "Songs of Wonder," Basya Schechter, the artist otherwise known as Pharaoh's Daughter for her multi-ethnic Middle Eastern musical project of the same name, melds the mystical Yiddish poetry of another 20th-century great, Abraham Joshua Heschel,

Tree of Strife

To better understand this contentious claim, consider the following, from Abraham Joshua Heschel's God in Search of Man: “The grand premise of religion is that man is able to surpass himself; that man who is part of this world may enter into a

Spirituality & Practice: Book Review: Abraham Joshua Heschel, by ...

Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel
Orbis Books 06/11 Paperback $20.00
ISBN: 9781570759192

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was a spiritual teacher and moral prophet par excellence. His daughter Susannah Heschel is the editor and writer of the introduction to this volume in the Orbis Books' Modern Spiritual Masters Series. His major concerns, she maintains, were our capacity to create holiness by our prayer, our worship on the Sabbath, and our ethical actions in the workaday world. Hasidic teachings are spread throughout the many books he wrote about the spiritual renewal of Judaism.God's presence is everywhere and so "if you want to know God, sharpen your sense of humanity." This is wise advice that Heschel demonstrated in his life promoting interfaith dialogue, walking with Martin Luther King, Jr., and protesting against the Vietnam War.

This collection of excerpts from the bottom of the Heschel is divided into six sections dealing with humanity, the roles of prophecy, the mystery of God, the Kingdom of the Spirit, the holy place, and the supreme importance of God. Susannah Heschel notes:

"My father grounded his understanding of religion not only in Scripture, but also in the complexity of human life; what it is to be a human being and how to create a sense of authenticity. The depth of religious life required a depth of self-exploration and understanding."

Heschel was fascinated with the spiritual practice of wonder and exploring his understanding of this virtue is an especially valuable experience. He sees it as a spur to faith and as an appreciation of the mysteries of life. (Be sure to take a look at his further probes on wonder in the excerpt.) We were also delighted to reacquaint ourselves with this Jewish sage's views on religion and race, awe, faith, prayer, and dissent.